Egypt will inaugurate a “new Suez canal” shipping route in August aimed at speeding up traffic along the existing waterway and boosting revenues.  Dubbed the Suez Canal Axis, the new 72-kilometre (45 mile) project will run part of the way alongside the existing canal that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.  It involves 37 kilometres of dry digging and 35 kilometres of expansion and deepening of the Suez Canal, in a bid to help speed up the movement of vessels.

Once the president inaugurates it, vessels will start moving through the new waterway,.  Eighty-five percent of the project that is being executed by the army has been completed so far.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched the project in August and set an ambitious target of digging the new canal in one year.

The project is part of an ambitious plan to develop the zone around the canal into an industrial and commercial hub, that would include the construction of ports and provide shipping services.

Authorities raised $9 billion (7.9 billion euros) to build the new canal by selling shares in the project to domestic investors, with private Egyptian companies tasked with its construction.

The new canal is expected to more than double Suez revenues from $5.3 billion expected at the end of 2015 to $13.2 billion in 2023, according to official estimates.

The new canal is considered a “national project” that aims to kick-start an economy battered by years of political turmoil since the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in 2011   About 250 million cubic metres (8.8 billion cubic feet) of soil that had to be dredged, 219 million had already been dealt with.

The main idea behind the expansion is to reduce the waiting period of vessels.  By building this new canal, we are serving the whole world and international trade… By bringing the waiting hours down to 11 from 22… this makes it one of the fastest waterways in the world.

Built 146 years ago, the existing Suez Canal is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes and has been a key source of international trade, earning Egypt billions of dollars in annual revenues.

The canal is a symbol of prestige and national pride for Egypt, apart from being vital for its economic stability.